Jan. 10, 2014 at 9:02am
City Manager's Update January 10, 2014

City represented in Brigade Run

Members of the Puyallup Police Department and the City participated with the 2nd Brigade 2nd Infantry Division’s Brigade Run on the 18th of December at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. This run was approximately four miles and was done in a formation that included nearly 4,500 soldiers. Chief Bryan Jeter and Deputy Chief Dave McDonald represented PPD, while Deputy City Attorney Steve Kirkelie and Development Services Director Tom Utterback represented their respective departments in the City.

Sunnyside Orchestra

The Sunnyside Orchestra is a group of senior musicians that practice at the Activity Center every Monday morning. The orchestra contains a large ensemble of various instruments including piano, violin, guitar, bass guitar, brass, woodwind, percussion, piano, and a few vocalists. The group periodically performs live throughout the area and new members are always welcome to join.

Passport Applications Up 17% Last Year

The City Clerk’s Office is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to serve as a passport acceptance facility. In 2013, we processed 17% more passport applications than the previous year—a significant increase, particularly considering that we accept applications during limited hours. This is in addition to the many phone calls we receive from those who have questions about forms, fees, the documents required for passports, and our hours of service. Last year the City received nearly $56,000 in revenue from agency fees ($25 per application) which are charged for the processing of passport applications.

Council Meeting Videos on City Website

For approximately two weeks, Puyallup citizens were unable to view City Council meeting videos on PC computers running Microsoft’s latest web browser – Internet Explorer 11. Granicus (the vendor for the software that allows us to offer online Council meeting video) installed a fix on January 3rd that resolved this issue. Citizens can once again view City Council meetings via Internet Explorer without any errors.

Public Hearing to Address Potential I-502 Zoning Code Amendments

The Planning Commission has been working on potential zoning code amendments to address Statewide I-502 recreational marijuana siting standards. The Commission reviewed draft code standards and associated background information at a study session on January 8th. The Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the draft code amendments on Wednesday, January 29th, 7:00 pm in the Council Chambers. Anyone is welcome to attend and speak at this hearing. Copies of the staff report and draft code will be available approximately one week prior to the hearing. The Planning Commission’s recommendations from that hearing will be forwarded to City Council for their action at a future council meeting. Please contact Senior Planner Katie Baker at (253) 435-3604 for additional information.

PD Members Achieve Career Level Certification

Corrections Sergeant Mike McMullen was recently awarded his First Level Supervisor Certification from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. Career Level Certification is mandated by the state for law enforcement and corrections personnel who are first level supervisors and middle-managers. Sergeant McMullen completed over 75 hours of training on the fields of Planning & Management, Commitment to Safety, Communications, Ethics and Integrity, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, and Leadership to earn his certification.

Deputy Chief Dave McDonald was awarded his Executive Level Certification by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. Executive Level Certification is not mandated by RCW but is available for those law enforcement executives who qualify. Deputy Chief McDonald qualified by completing the FBI National Academy Session #230, FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association’s Command Institute, the Northwest Law Enforcement Executive Command College, and Criminal Justice Training Commission’s Leadership Academy, all in addition to dozens of hours of additional executive-level training.

Congratulations to Sergeant McMullen and Deputy Chief McDonald on their certifications!

Fun with Fitness

The Activity Center has two new exercise classes for seniors that help promote a healthier lifestyle. The “Happy Exercisers” meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:30 am to 8:30 am and “Fun with Fitness” gathers on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 am to 9:00 am. Both classes are senior developed programs that are designed to improve balance and increase overall fitness levels.

Breakfast with Santa

On December 14th, Puyallup Recreation’s annual Breakfast with Santa event was held at the Pioneer Park Pavilion. A full house of kids, parents, and grandparents enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, the beautiful voice of singer Naomi Morgan, and of course the opportunity to visit with Santa Claus! The Pavilion was decorated to look like a snowy forest and featured live pine trees covered in lights, as well as painted backdrops and forest creatures. Participants were also able to purchase professional photographs with Santa. The Recreation Department would especially like to thank our fantastic group of volunteers, from all three Puyallup high schools, for their help during the event.

PPD Christmas Giving

The Puyallup Police Department hosted their annual “Shop With A Cop” program on December 19th. Nine children were selected by the staff of the elementary schools within the City limits to participate in the program. The children started the day at Walmart, where they received $25 gift cards to spend. The next stop was the Super Jump at the Mall to help expend some pent up energy. After that, Trackside Pizza treated the children to lunch. The last stop was Fred Meyer where each child received $100 gift cards. Every child chose gifts for their family members as well as for themselves. It was a great day for everyone involved!

On December 20th, the Puyallup Police Department hosted the 20th annual Santa Cops gift and food delivery program. Officer Gary Shilley was the originator of Santa Cops 20 years ago and continues to organize it. Several officers, corrections staff, support staff, reserve officers, and explorers made food and gift deliveries to approximately 50 deserving families. A special thanks to Councilmember Julie Door and Deputy City Attorney Steve Kirkelie, who took time away from their families during the Holiday season to assist.

Demand for Online Service Spikes in 2013

We all know about the increase in communication through the use of the internet, mobile phones, and email. Outreach to the City of Puyallup is no exception. Contacting the City via the website has become more convenient for our citizens and customers. In 2013, we’ve seen a steep increase in the number of messages received through the website compared to prior years. While the way we reach our citizens may be changing, staff still aims to provide a high-level of customer service.

Business is Booming

In the second half of 2013, the City worked with a variety of parties (including the Chamber of Commerce and other local economic development groups) to assist in bringing two new major employers to the Benaroya Business & Technology Center on 39th Avenue SE: Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) and TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Both firms presented aggressive plans to complete site tenant improvements and mobilize their respective personnel to be onsite and operational by the end of 2013. Both companies also planned to expand their workforces as a part of their moves to Puyallup. We are pleased to report that both companies achieved their occupancy goals. WIRB officially started business in Puyallup, with approximately 200 employees, on December 9th. TriWest met their January 1st, 2014 occupancy goal and began business with 50 workers; with planned employee expansions later in 2014. The City worked closely with the Benaroya staff and their various designers and contractors to complete the necessary building improvements and issue occupancy permits on an accelerated timeline, allowing these companies to successfully start their operations.

In the past few weeks, City staff had pre-application meetings with parties on the following potential new development projects:

a. A meeting with Puyallup School District representatives to discuss continuing site work at the District’s transportation services facility in the 300 block of 12th Avenue NW. The school district had previously received conditional use permit approval for site expansion and revisions to some uses at that property, which is continuing in phases.

b. A meeting with representatives of Thermo Fluids, a recycling company which is considering use of the former “Liquid Sugars” (Archer Daniels Midland) facility at 213 10th Street SE. The applicant proposes to use this site for interim storage - but not processing - of recycled motor oils and antifreeze. This site is a very visible local facility with large tanks adjacent to the SR-512 off ramp on East Pioneer and a rail spur adjacent to the main BNSF line, which is also proposed for railroad transport use by this business.

Child Safety Seat event

On December 11th the Puyallup Police Department partnered with MultiCare Center for Child Safety and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital on a Pierce County Safe Kids Event. The event was designed to check car seats. This was the first time in recent history that the Police Department has partnered in such an event. The event was held in the Activity Center parking lot from 10:00 am-noon. During the event, the team checked nineteen car seats and found two that needed to be replaced. Based upon the success of the event, additional car seat checks will likely be scheduled in the future.

Courts See Annual Filings Increase & Start the New Year with New Projects

The final statistics for both the Puyallup and Milton Courts have been calculated for year’s end. Including the photo ticket stats, filings are up for Puyallup by approximately 29% compared to 2012. Similarly, filings are up 28% for Milton compared to the prior year.

Puyallup Municipal Court Filings

8,193 Infractions

1,493 Criminal Traffic

1,557 Criminal Non-Traffic

366 DUIs

18,551 Photo Cases

2,320 Parking

32,480 Grand Total

Milton Municipal Court Filings

1,073 Infractions

43 Parking

45 DUIs

342 Criminal Traffic

165 Criminal Non-Traffic

1,668 Grand Total

In addition to increased filings, the court is also busy working on new projects. Court staff is currently working with Photo Enforcement Vendor ATS, on the process to transition photo tickets to the City’s current court case management system (the Judicial Information System). It is anticipated the technical setup, data entry, and testing phase of this process will take approximately 90 days. Once completed, the Court will be handling all aspects of photo ticket processing; from filings, hearings, and payments, to collections. This is a very time consuming and technical project for court staff, ATS, and the Administrative Office of the Courts, but the end result to the City will be very positive.

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Tickets for the annual Daddy Daughter Dance went on sale January 2nd. This year’s event is scheduled for February 8th at the Pioneer Park Pavilion from 6:00-8:30 pm. This memory-making event features a live DJ playing kid friendly hits, light refreshments, and a professional photographer. Tickets can be purchase online at www.puyallupparksandrec.com or over the phone by calling the Recreation Center at 253-841-5457.

Cookies with Mrs. Claus

The Cookies with Mrs. Claus class was a huge success this year, with nineteen kids signed up to decorate sugar cookies with the guest of honor, Mrs. Claus. Each child was able to decorate at least six sugar cookies with frosting, candies, and sprinkles. Christmas music and festive decorations set a festive tone, and kids had plenty of time for pictures with Mrs. Claus - after she let them in on a couple of North Pole secrets!

Wedding Show

The Pioneer Park Pavilion participated as a vendor at the Tacoma Wedding Expo held at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall on January 4th and 5th. This Wedding Expo allows staff a whole new perspective of trends and products/services surrounding the bridal industry. The Tacoma Wedding Expo is ranked among the top 10% of bridal shows in the country year after year. On average over 1,500 brides and 4,000 people attend the show over the course of the weekend. One of the most important benefits of the show is the face to face contact with potential clients.

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